It seems clear that it is not clear… or is it the things we know do not include the unknowns…or is it the things we don’t know are known unknowns?

In any event, based on comments I have seen in blogs, one thing is clear: the public does not understand the lawsuits that are occurring against Big Tobacco here in Florida.

The lawsuits in Florida, known as the Engle cases, largely involve people who became addicted to cigarettes and nicotine back in the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s, and the 1950’s. The cases involve evidence of tobacco companies paying big bucks to:

• convince the public that cigarettes were good for you
• convince the public that nicotine was not addictive
• convince the public that smoking was a positive social choice
• convince the public that smoking did not cause cancer, emphysema, or other diseases

When Big Tobacco was required to place warning labels on cigarette packs, they spent huge sums of money backing articles and other efforts designed to convince the public about the safety of cigarettes; that stated no reliable link between smoking and cancer, much less other diseases, could be established; and that a grand conspiracy existed against cigarette smokers and the tobacco companies.

Bottom line? The Big Tobacco lawyers now want to reinvent history. They want to convince everyone that tobacco companies did not spend massive sums on advertising to convince the public that smoking was good for you, actually healthy for you.

They want to paint smokers who got hooked before the public was really aware of the dangers of smoking as making bad decisions. What they want the public to remember is only history that existed after warnings were given to the public and after all the smoke they could generate to hide the truth had dissipated.

Just check out this Camel ad from 1949:

Or this one from the 1950’s:

Multidistrict litigation proceedings against Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., the manufacturer of the over-the-counter cold product Zicam, are heating up.

This is a process known as multidistrict litigation (or an MDL) and is often utilized in mass tort cases where a number of claimants have been injured in a similar fashion by a drug, medical device, other product, airline crash, etc. MDL cases often include class action claims, but are generally aimed at managing a large number of individual lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who have all suffered harm due to the same general conduct of the Defendants.

Currently, there are more than 300 MDL cases pending in federal court jurisdictions all over the country involving a number of different products, corporate fraud and other wrongdoing, and accidents, such as:

• Chantix (MDL No. 2092 in Birmingham);
• Prempro (MDL No. 1507 in Little Rock);
• Air Crash in Madrid on August 20, 2008 (MDL No. 2135 pending in California);
• Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Products (MDL No. 2047 in New Orleans);
• Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents (MDL No. 1909 in Cleveland);
• Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 (MDL No. 1570 in New York City);
• Yasmin and Yaz (MDL No. 2100 in East St. Louis);
• General Motors Vehicle Plan (MDL No. 1392 in Illinois).

In November of 2009, the Judicial Panel for MultiDistrict Litigation assigned all of the Zicam cases to Judge Frederick Martone in Phoenix, who will oversee pretrial proceedings, discovery and the bellwether trial process for all of the lawsuits pending in the federal court system.

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On November 12, 2008, a Dillard High School student shot and killed Amanda G. Collette outside a classroom. The student, Teah Wimberly, entered the school with a loaded handgun in her backpack. Wimberly informed a fellow student that she intended to harm Collette. The fellow student in turn informed a teacher, who failed to take action or reasonable steps to protect students inside the school.

It seems clear the procedures we’re demanding need to be installed at all schools, and nowhere more so than at schools like Dillard with a history of violence,” added Baker-Barnes. School Board of Broward County does not have adequate security measures and services in place to protect its students. Shouldn’t the School Board have done a minimal job of properly screening students and guests entering school property or have procedures and rules in place to deter acts of violence.

“The Broward County School Board was fully aware of the fact that a student inside the school possessed an illegal handgun,” said Sia Baker-Barnes, of the Searcy Denney law firm and attorney for the family. “The School Board’s monumental irresponsibility led to Amanda’s death. We will aggressively pursue this lawsuit to ensure that policies and procedures are implemented to safeguard our students before yet another tragic death besmirches our school system.”

This incident should cause serious thought for th esafety of children in our schools:

“The procedures we’re demanding need to be installed at all schools, and nowhere more so than at schools like Dillard with a history of violence,” added Baker-Barnes.

A lawsuit has been filed by Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley and we have the tragic privilege to represent the family of this grief stricken family, who have lost their teenage daughter.

I can not remember who said it, but it speaks volumes about people who give of themselves through volunteering to help others:

“If you insist on measuring yourself, place the tape around your heart rather than your head.”

We are in very tough economic times. Everyone is feeling the loss of money, jobs, retirement, your home. What we once were able to give as contributions to charitable cause or event, is now going to pay the mortgage or feed our family. We want to help those less fortunate, but we just do not have the money.

So, just volunteer for something. Charitable organizations are feeling the economic troubles as well. They are cutting budgets and paid employees just to survive and continue to help people who need them.

Take a look at your skills and your hobbies. Pick one or two charities about which you feel compelled and offer your services to them.

Volunteer Match offers a database that allows you to enter your zip code and it matches you with opportunities to help out right in your back yard. Just in the 33409 zip code, there were 285 volunteering opportunities, including:

• Volunteer at the Veteran’s Hospital.
• Center for Family Services
• Become a Guardian Angel, by becoming a guardian ad litem for children.
• Records management for a group assisting senior citizen crime victims.
• Be an advocate for crime victims.
• Be a cattery assistant

Putting the search term “volunteering” into Google yielded nearly 13 million opportunities.

We give back… we take time to care… because tomorrow it could be any one of us who needs the help.